MAN UNITED 0-3 LIVERPOOL

'Blue and white sh**e', mocked the rejoicing Liverpool fans after one particularly wild shot by Marouane Fellaini on Sunday afternoon.

The ball had dropped enticingly to the Belgian on the edge of penalty area. It is cruel to make such comparisons but it was one of those teasing, half-volleys that Paul Scholes or Roy Keane would have relished the opportunity to step on to.

Fellaini, by contrast, was cowed in front of the Stretford End.

Pants! Marouane Fellaini isn't good enough to be playing in Manchester United's midfield

Trouble: The £28m shelled out by David Moyes in the summer appears to be a chronic waste of money

Different player? Fellaini looked a much better performer under Moyes in the Everton midfield

The resultant effort, skewed horribly over and wide, brought laughs among the United supporters. The outcome was entirely predictable, a snapshot of a quite tortuous beginning to Fellaini's Old Trafford career.

Quite simply, they are used to better in these parts. Every Manchester United midfielder is placed against the greats of years gone by and Fellaini appears horribly short of the required standard. Sometimes, that can be tolerated. When a player is impoverished of the greatest talent, sheer application can win over his doubters. With Fellaini, though, there appears to be an absence of both inspiration and perspiration.

Every player has his own idiosyncrasies but Fellaini's languid jogging through the central acres does little to dispel this view. As the indefatigable Jordan Henderson outran and outfought the Belgian, one was inclined to wonder quite what Sir Alex Ferguson would have to say about the Belgian's running style. So too his timid approach to any loose ball in the midfield.

Pensive: Moyes has bigger problems at Old Trafford but the form of his big signing is worrying

Worn out: Fellaini didn't offer anything during the defeat against Liverpool and was hooked in the 76th minute

At 6ft 4inches and over 13 stone, when
Fellaini decides to get involved, that should be the end of the matter.
With his sheer scale, any 50/50 should be an 80/20. Yet he seems to
shirk the challenge, almost nervous to intrude, as though not to be a
bother. The Old Trafford support was admirable in its relentless backing
of their football club against Liverpool but the round of cheers that
accompanied the decision to substitute Fellaini provided a stinging,
individual soundtrack for the costly Belgian.

His
most noticeable contribution to the United cause on Sunday was his
ability to take down David De Gea's goal-kicks. With most players, you
would categorise them as left-footed or right-footed. For Fellaini, it
is chest or afro. He may have a chest the size of a wardrobe but you do
not pay £27.5million for that alone. Bredan Rodgers, the innovative
Livepool manager, would not pay £27.50 for this kind of footballer.

Surely,
there has to be more. Fellaini, signed predominantly to add steel to
the midfield, also brought the promise of goals. He scored 11 for
Everton in the Premier League last season - a goalscoring contribution
that equalled the combined total tally of 10 Manchester United
midfielders. By contrast, Fellaini is yet to score this season.
Something, somewhere has gone massively wrong.

In the wars: The cut to Fellaini's face on Sunday wasn't indicative of a performance lacking gusto

Taxi! There is a growing sense that Moyes is a man without a plan at Old Trafford this season

Not good enough: The 26-year-old was one of the fiercest midfielders in the Premier League at Everton

'A backwards step for the big Belgian. Began by missing two tackles and didn’t improve. 5'

Sportsmail's Ian Ladyman's rating of Fellaini after defeat against Liverpool

Fellaini, of course, is just one part of the identity crisis that Moyes is currently suffering. The manager has signed two players since joining the club and Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata could not be more different in style. It only adds to the growing concerns that Moyes is a man without a plan, without a philosophy to redevelop this ailing club nor the confidence or strategy to implement it.

If Moyes was managing Everton on Sunday and his team were 2-0 down, he surely would have been tempted to push Fellaini further forward and urge his team to send the ball higher and longer in search of a goal. At Old Trafford, Moyes is wary of such tactics, well aware that it is not the United way.

There should, of course, be a recognition that Fellaini must be given the time to settle and flourish at a new club. It should, also, be remembered that Fellaini did not have the benefit of a pre-season with his new side and, in a season punctuated by back and wrist injuries, he has started only 10 games for Manchester United. To make a judgement based on this alone is harsh by any standards, particularly in a team in which no player can claim to be operating anywhere near their highest level.

Shouldn't that be comfortable? Fellaini struggles to win the ball against the diminutive Raheem Sterling

Nonetheless, there is a growing sense
that Fellaini simply is not up to the level at which Manchester United
should be operating. At Manchester United's training AON complex, Moyes
tends to begin the training sessions with quickfire, passing drills, for
which the players are separated into two circles.

At the open sessions
that the media were invited to attend before the Champions League games
earlier this season, Fellaini found himself in the second circle, with
the likes of Alex Buttner, Anderson, Chris Smalling, the Da Silva twins,
Javier Hernandez, Wilfried Zaha, and Jonny Evans, led by United
first-team coach Phil Neville, while the more gifted ball-players such
as Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Ryan Giggs worked with Moyes.

With recent
performances in mind, United fans are entitled to question whether
Fellaini can ever raise himself to that level. He may, unfortunately,
just not be good enough.